Difference between WordPress.com & WordPress.org

WordPress is widely used software to build websites, but there is often some confusion between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. In this article, we will explain these 2 WordPress variations and what you should pay attention to. It regularly happens that people have a WordPress.com website and want to transfer it to us, but this involves a number of important matters.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a hosting service founded by Automattic. This is the company of one of the co-founders of WordPress. WordPress.com also uses a different version of the normal WordPress, which is why transferring from WordPress.com to WordPress.org can often cause problems.

You can start a WordPress site for free with WordPress.com, but this comes with a number of disadvantages. These include:

  1. You cannot install additional plugins for more functionality.
  2. You can only use WordPress themes which are made specifically for WordPress.com.
  3. Your website must be hosted via WordPress.com.
  4. You only get a limited amount of GB of web space unless you purchase a paid package.
  5. You cannot use your own domain name unless you pay for a package.
  6. Ads from WordPress.com will be displayed on the site unless you purchase a paid package.
  7. You cannot use your own analytics like Google Analytics unless you purchase one of the more expensive packages.

So there are quite a lot of restrictions on your WordPress website. If you want to get more functionalities out of your site, you quickly have to pay a lot more. Also, you do not have direct access to your website files and database unless you pay for a package that includes this. So if you want to transfer before you have to pay more, it quickly becomes very difficult because everything has to be transferred manually.

WordPress.org

WordPress.org is the organization behind WordPress, so this is actually the official WordPress which you can host wherever you want. This gives you full control over your website. Furthermore, WordPress.org is so-called open-source software, whereas WordPress.com is closed-source software. Open-source means that the underlying code of WordPress is completely public, so you know exactly what is happening.

So let's go over some of the advantages:

  1. You have full control over all files, so not just your plugins and themes, but you can also adjust the WordPress installation itself as desired.
  2. You can upload and use plugins and themes yourself. Or even use custom plugins and themes.
  3. You can transfer the site to any hosting provider that supports WordPress, so you are not stuck with WordPress.com.
  4. You can host WordPress on any hosting package with us. Whether this is a regular or WordPress hosting package, or even a VPS or dedicated server, it will work with us.
  5. You can link your own domain name to it, whether it is registered with us or with an external party does not matter.
  6. You determine yourself what goes on the site, so no ads from WordPress.org.
  7. You can use Google Analytics (or other analytics software) at no extra cost.
  8. There is a large archive of plugins and themes available which you can use.
    1. Plugins: https://wordpress.org/plugins/
    2. Themes: https://wordpress.org/themes/

And so there are many more advantages that you can make use of if you use WordPress.org for your WordPress website.

Transferring from WordPress.com to WordPress.org

Transferring your website from WordPress.com to WordPress.org is possible, but there are a number of restrictions/conditions involved. Iwill explain these below:

  • We cannot copy the website exactly. This is because WordPress.com uses a modified WordPress version, and the free version also does not provide direct access to the files (via FTP) and database.
  • We can transfer the content, which includes pages, posts, categories, and media. But this is only the content; if your theme, for example, handles the formatting of this content, there is a high chance this will not be transferred. We do this via an XML export file, more about this can be found here: https://wordpress.com/support/export/
  • We cannot transfer the theme, but there is often a WordPress.org variant of the theme available that you can download and install. However, you will need to configure the theme options again.
  • We cannot transfer the plugins, but just like with the theme, there are often WordPress.org variants of the plugins available that you can download and install. Here too, you will need to configure the options again.
  • If you use WooCommerce, we can often transfer the products as well by exporting them and importing them with us.

Do you have a WordPress.com site and want to transfer it to hosting with us? Please contact our support and we will see what we can do for you. For example, we can also place the website on a temporary subdomain, so you can temporarily continue using the WordPress.com site while you finish the new WordPress.org website with us.

So suppose your website is currently running via WordPress.com on your-domain.nl, then we create a subdomain like new.your-domain.nl where we place the site. Then normal visitors can still use your WordPress.com site until your new WordPress.org site is ready with us. After that, we can easily move it to your normal domain. (Feel free to ask our support to do this for you.)

Conclusion

So it is better to migrate from WordPress.com to WordPress.org sooner rather than later, because it will only become more work if you migrate later. But keep in mind that the website (most likely) cannot be copied exactly and therefore requires some extra work after the transfer.

Do you currently have a WordPress.com site and want to get more out of your site, take a more professional approach, and have more freedom in what you do with the site? Then contact our support to discuss the possibilities.

With a WordPress.org website you have more flexibility and possibilities. In the long term, a switch is definitely worth it.

Still have questions? Get in touch.